Making Something of Nothing

Amman is a sprawling city with nearly uniform architecture – similar style, color and shape. This doesn’t diminish its beauty but adds to the visual power of its spread. I have already handfuls of photographs and pan videos cannot do the sight of these dwellings justice.

Downtown Amman.

When we traveled through downtown, there doesn’t seem to be a corresponding number of people in the streets. I looked at the houses and thought, “Who are the people living here? Where are they? Where do they work? What do they do?”

On the bus tour, our guide, Akmed, vaguely answered some of these questions, but I was left with so many more. He spoke about several different aspects of Jordanian society, such as education, economy and culture. He mentioned that people were leaving Jordan to go work in the Gulf and bringing money back to Jordan. What does that mean?

En route to the Roman Theatre and the Citadel, our bus passed a mosque where protests have been happening. Akmed dismissed the protests, saying, “I’m sorry, I know some of you are journalists, but I think that journalists, they make something out of nothing.” I wonder, is this how other Jordanians feel? Why do people feel this way?

The tours of Amman and the group dinners are over. We are heading to our host families today and have our first deadlines. I’m ready.